Hope for the Tournament
by Lilium-Bellator
Summary: Lacking friends and self-confidence, Harry ends up at the Astronomy tower where he finds Cedric. In the conversation and days to follow he finds he's got another person in his corner. Set in GoF. NO SLASH.


_The characters do not belong to me and I do not own anything. I certainly am not making any money off this story._

* * *

It was sometime around midnight, and fourteen year old Harry Potter could not sleep. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence; there were many times at his relatives' house that he had lain in bed, completely awake, but that was normally because he feared what they would do to him. His Uncle Vernon and his cousin, Dudley, in particular liked to sneak in and take the opportunity to "punish" him for whatever they wanted.

Because of that, Harry had spent the first eleven years of his life either sleeping very lightly, or not sleeping at all, due to fear. But at Hogwarts, he had never had that problem. He knew he was safe there.

Or, he _used_ to know he was safe at Hogwarts. That day had not been the easiest he'd ever had – in fact, quite the opposite. Not only was he was he currently not talking to his best friend, but he had also been chosen to compete in some ultra-dangerous competition...the Triwizard Tournament.

_And as if that isn't enough, no one believes that I didn't enter it!_ He thought. _I would have thought Ron would, at the very least, but no, he's decided to be jealous...for something I don't even want to do! _

Harry sighed and slipped out of bed. Sleep wasn't about to come anytime soon, so he might as well be doing something. He pulled his trainers on and grabbed his invisibility cloak, which, as always, was underneath his pillow. He preferred putting it there, so he knew that no one would steal one of the only objects that his father once owned.

After pulling it around his shoulders, Harry silently walked out of the dorms and made his way down the common room, glad that no one was there. He would have snuck out much sooner if it hadn't been for the raging party that had been going on since his house mates found out that he had been chosen for the Tournament.

Getting through the portrait hole was always a challenge – the Fat Lady didn't open for air, after all. But he had learnt to ignore her squeak of surprise, though, and he moved forwards without pausing.

Harry had no real destination in mind. He just needed to be out, doing _something._ He could not get Moody's words out of his mind. The fact that someone may have put his name into the goblet, just so he would be killed...who would do something like that? Who hated Harry that much, other than the Dursleys?

_Well, obviously, Voldemort,_ Harry thought as he walked along, taking care to make sure he knew where he was going – he had not picked up his map, so if he got lost, he would be stumbling around. _But how could he have done it? He doesn't have a body anymore, Wormtail isn't around...as far as I know, and no one here currently would do something for him. I mean, Snape is evil...but is he that evil?_

Harry liked to think not. After all, Snape _had _tried to protect him in the past: he had muttered a counter curse to protect Harry in his first year. In his third year he also tried to shield him against Sirius Black – not that it was needed. Sirius was not a murderer; they had established that fact in the shack.

_Why does this crap always happen to me?_ He thought, suddenly changing directions. He wanted – no, needed – to feel fresh air against his skin. He wanted somewhere that had a view, where he would be able to feel the breeze that had picked up earlier that day. And only one place, within the castle itself, would provide him with that.

The Astronomy tower.

It didn't take Harry long to get there. After all, he knew all the secret shortcuts; one of the many benefits of owning something like the Marauders Map. It had become a priceless asset since Fred and George had decided to give it to him, instead of Ron.

_Though, I still have no idea why they did that,_ Harry though, finally coming to a stop at the Astronomy tower. Like always, it was empty – for some reason, no one came to enjoy the views late at night. He was grateful for that, though – it had often become his own little sanctuary.

Fully confident that he was alone and would not be interrupted anytime soon – he had memorised the teacher's patterns of how they patrolled the area over the years – Harry pulled off the cloak and leant against the window.

_I wonder if someone put my name in the damn goblet because I'm the Boy Who Lived, like some kind of joke...maybe they think that because I defeated Voldemort, I can win this._ Harry snorted to himself. _Fitting, really, that my name came out of the goblet today...on the anniversary._ _Maybe the universe thinks it's a funny joke or something – let's see what else Wonder Boy can survive!_

"I am so not laughing," he muttered out loud.

"You're not laughing about what?" A voice asked. It was so sudden and unexpected that Harry practically jumped out of his skin. He whirled around, but could not see anyone with him. The person laughed, as if he was watching Harry's reaction.

"Who's there?" He demanded. Maybe someone was coming to kill him, like Moody had said. Maybe they'd push him out the window or something. _Or maybe they just want to torture me._

Harry shook his head. His thoughts often turned morbid on Halloween – that was most likely because two of the only people who would have ever loved him unconditionally were murdered.

The air rippled not too far from where Harry was standing, but before he had a chance to cry out in surprise, a figure appeared. Cedric Diggory, the other – _should be the only one, really – _Hogwarts champion smiled at him.

"Sometimes, being good at Charms is handy," the older boy said, joining Harry by the window. "That was no charm that you did, though."

Harry sighed. He really didn't want to talk about his Invisibility Cloak with Cedric. Sometimes it was bad enough that he had to share it with Ron and Hermione. After all...it was his _fathers._

Cedric smiled at him. "You don't have to explain yourself to me, Potter," Cedric told him. "After all, we're both breaking rules by being out here for no reason – it's not like I'm about to call a teacher on you. That would get me into trouble as well."

Harry snorted. "Too bad Malfoy doesn't think like that," he said. Cedric gave him an odd look. Visibility was quite good due to the full moon. _I wonder how Moony is going...I should probably send him a letter about all this. Maybe he can give me some tips on how to not die._

"What do you mean?"

"He caught me, Ron and Hermione out in our first year. Told on us, and we got a detention and lost fifty points – but so did he. He didn't think he'd get in trouble."

Cedric laughed. "Malfoy tends to not think like that," he said. "He may be in Slytherin, but he also thinks he's better than others. It hinders his thinking process."

"Or, in other words, he's an arrogant piece of crap who likes to get others into trouble."

"Exactly. So, Potter, what brings you out here, in the middle of the night? I would have thought you'd be recovering from some huge party right about now...or didn't they throw you one?"

Harry sighed. "They did."

"And you sound _so_ happy about it," Cedric said. The way he said it didn't sound mean, though. Harry very much doubted the older boy could be mean about anything.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't in a partying mood. I never have been, not on Halloween. I hate everything about it."

For the life of him, Harry couldn't figure out why he had just told Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts Champion and Hufflepuff Prefect, _that_ bit of personal information. He had never even mentioned it to Hermione or Ron before. He had always put up with it.

"Interesting...are you saying you don't like the feast?"

Harry shook his head. "No. I mean, don't get me wrong, the food is always so good and the atmosphere is...nice. But...it's just...wrong to be happy and celebrate," Harry said, and then winced. Since when was he so talkative? "Uh...what about your house? Did they do something?" He asked, desperate to get the attention off himself.

"Of course they did...we don't get much to celebrate, so when we do, we go all out," Cedric told him. His words just made Harry feel bad. Cedric was meant to be the Champion, the _only _Hogwarts Champion. Now he had to share the title with Harry. "Potter? You okay?"

"Oh, yeah, why shouldn't I be okay? Not like my life is in danger or anything..._again_."

Cedric turned towards Harry fully. "Are you telling me you actually bought what Moody said? You do realise that the guy is paranoid about everything, right? Honestly, have you heard some of the rumours? They say someone once tapped him on the shoulder, and he almost strangled them."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The guy is crazy. Brilliant, but crazy," Cedric said. "So really, don't trust what he says. No one is going to kill you. Besides, how could someone? Hogwarts is secure, one of the best places in our world."

"True, but that hasn't stopped anyone before," Harry muttered, before realising what he had just said.

"What on earth are you talking about, Harry?" Cedric asked, now sounding slightly concerned. That seemed odd – after all, everything just seemed like a huge adventure to Ron, and he was _supposed _to be Harry's best friend. Cedric seemed to realise that Harry didn't want to answer that question. "Sorry, that's probably personal."

Another thing Ron had never seemed to care about – Harry's privacy. "Maybe one day I'll tell you, if I actually survive this year."

"Of course you're going to survive this year," Cedric said, his voice full of confidence. When Harry didn't answer, he nudged his shoulder slightly. "Harry, you can't listen to Moody, or anyone else for that matter. You're a pretty good wizard from what I've heard. You can beat this. You will beat this."

"I'm not so sure," Harry said with a sigh. Cedric was a nice enough guy, but he was suddenly not in the mood to be at the Tower anymore. He picked up his cloak. "I should probably go."

"Harry –"

"See you around, Cedric," Harry said, and walked away.

The next few days were extremely difficult for Harry. While his own house – aside from Ron, of course – treated him as if he was some kind of hero, the rest of the school acted as if he had committed some great crime. Not that Harry could blame them. In their eyes, he had – he had stolen what should have been Cedric's, and his alone.

Harry spent a vast majority of his time in the Tower, shut up in his dorm with nothing to do but homework and study tactics for the Tournament, which he was doing at Hermione's insistence. She was one of the only ones who truly believed that he did not put his name in the damn goblet.

But spending all his time with a girl who almost lived in the library was not the best thing to do, social wise. He loved Hermione, he really did – but he missed Ron terribly. Without him, things were quiet. He and Hermione hardly spoke about personal matters, so everything they talked about was theories surrounding different things and homework. There was no Quidditch tactics, no jokes...nothing even remotely resembling fun.

And while Harry loved books and study – something he had never done much around Ron, for fear of being rejected – he needed the fun to balance everything out. Too often was he filled with thoughts of the amount of ways he could die in the First Task. Most of the scenarios were about dangerous creatures, but every now and then, Voldemort made an appearance.

"Harry, you're not concentrating!" Hermione exclaimed. They were in an unused classroom, and she was teaching him some charm that allowed time to move in slow motion for a few seconds. According to her, it would be useful in almost any situation, whether it be some sort of battle or a test.

"Sorry, Hermione," he said, sinking to the floor. "I'm just a bit distracted."

"By what? You were doing fine this morning."

_By the thoughts that these next few weeks may be my last here,_ he thought, but didn't say it out loud. She looked at him with pitying eyes enough as it was. "Sorry," he repeated. "I just...can we take a break? I'm exhausted. We've been working at it all day."

"But Harry, you need to learn everything you can in the next few weeks, to be prepared!"

He sighed. "I know that," he told her, a hint of irritation in his voice. "It's just...there's only so much I can do in a day. Doing this on top of regular schoolwork...it's getting too much, Hermione. One afternoon off, that's all I want. Please. Then I'll do whatever you want tomorrow."

Hermione's eyes softened. "Maybe an afternoon off would be best," she agreed with a nod. "There's some spells I wanted to look up in the library anyway."

"Thank you," he said in relief. He stood up and looked around the room. All the desks were pushed to the sides, to give them room to practice. "Want me to put this all back in its place, or –"

She waved his words off. "No, I'll do it – I want to practice the spell used anyway. We'll probably be doing this all year, so might as well make it easy," she said with a smile. Hermione was the only person that Harry knew that would be excited by the prospect of doing nothing but learn new spells for months on end.

Harry nodded at her. "Thanks, Hermione," he said. "I really do appreciate you doing so much for me."

"I'm happy to do it – what are friends for?" She asked. Harry just smiled at her before leaving the room.

_Yeah, what are friends for? I'd do it for Ron in a second, no matter what I'd be giving up. That's what mates are for. Somehow...I don't think he feels the same..._

Pushing _that_ thought out of his head before he had a chance to think about it too much, Harry headed towards the Tower to grab his broom. He was pretty keen to go flying. It was the only time that he didn't feel that crushing sense of loneliness.

_Honestly, I should be used to it by now, considering the way I was brought up,_ he thought, giving the Fat Lady the current password. As it was a sunny – if slightly cold – Saturday, the place was almost empty. Harry was glad of that, he was sick of the amount of people that kept patting his back, as if he did something really good.

After retrieving his Firebolt, Harry hurried down to the pitch as fast as he could. There were no teams practicing, of course, thanks to the Triwizard Tournament. Taking the opportunity of no Malfoy, Ron or Victor Krum, Harry got on his broomstick and kicked hard off the ground.

He had to refrain from crying out in joy as he flew through the air. There was no feeling like flying. It was better than any other activity he knew, and it was the only time he felt any sort of joy – even if he was alone.

He flew around the pitch, practicing different moves. He swooped, did loop-de-loops, and practiced his rolls. Harry even practiced landings, just in case he ever fell off his broom again. At a great height it would not do much good, but being able to land after a stunt like the one he pulled in the first match he ever played and land properly was probably a good thing, especially with his luck. Injuries were common for Harry.

When he finally landed, after several hours of being up in the air, he was covered in sweat, tired, but completely satisfied. He knew that Hermione thought the sport was boring and useless, but it honed his reflexes, which, in something like a duel, was a great asset.

"Nice flying out there, Potter," a voice from above him said. Harry looked up to see Cedric sitting in the stands. He was the only one there, and as far as he could see, the only one outside at all.

_Everyone else is probably heading to have dinner or something,_ Harry thought, mounting his broom once more. He flew up to where Cedric was sitting before landing again. While he didn't know the other boy all that well, he welcomed any sort of male bonding time. If Cedric was willing to talk...Harry didn't mind. After all, it wasn't as if he had many friends.

"Are you stalking me or something? First the Astronomy Tower, now here," Harry said, sitting down next to the older boy, who smiled and shook his head. "Are you sure about that?"

"Hey, you walked in on _me_ at the tower, not the other way around," Cedric reminded him.

"You were invisible."

"So were you," Cedric said. "Honestly, I'm surprised to see you out here alone. You're normally with your friends, Ron and Hermione. Where are they?"

"Hermione is in the library – she's looking up spells; we've been training together. And Ron is...I have no idea where he is," Harry told Cedric, wincing at the sadness in his voice. He had never been brilliant at masking his emotions.

"What do you mean, you don't know where eh is? I thought you were inseparable."

"We used to be." Harry told him shortly.

"Oh...what happened?"

Harry debated on whether or not to tell the older boy. _Oh, what the Hell. It's not like he can do anything. Can't tease me about it. Half the school knows we're not talking by now. _"The Goblet of Fire happened."

Cedric winced. "Damn, that sucks. He should be concerned or excited for you, not jealous. I thought he was a better person than that." _Yeah, my thoughts exactly._

A long silence stretched out between the two. "So, Potter, what brings you up here on this not-so-fine afternoon?" He asked. The sunny day had turned overcast sometime while he was flying. Harry hadn't really noticed, despite being in the clouds the entire time.

Harry shrugged. "Needed to get away from the castle, I guess. Flying helps with that."

Cedric nodded. "Yeah, I agree with that. Flying always helps. I was actually going to practice as well, but I didn't want to disturb you," he said, nodding towards his feet. For the first time, Harry noticed that a broomstick was lying there.

"Really? Or you didn't want to lose against me?"

"Against you? That would never happen," he said with a grin. "Maybe we should have a rematch of last year. It was never fair, because of those stupid Dementors. Sorry about that, by the way."

_Huh?_ "What do you have to be sorry about?" Harry asked, rather confused.

"If I turned around...I would have seen that you were in trouble. I could have done something...so, sorry about that," he said. Harry shook his head.

"You have nothing to apologise for. I'm kind of used to the whole mortal danger thing." As soon as he said it, Harry regretted it. Cedric was nice, but could Harry really trust the guy? Did he want to divulge all his secrets?

"You know, that's kind of depressing," Cedric told him. "That you're used to it. No one should be used to almost dying...although, you _are_ the Boy Who Lived."

Harry groaned. "Please. No. Don't call me that. I don't even want to be reminded of that. Why should I get recognition for something that killed my parents? I hate it. I hate the fame. It's been thirteen years. Can't everyone let it go now? So I survived. Big deal. Sometimes I wish I'd died. At least I'd be with my parents then. At least I'd know them. All I have is pictures. I can't even visit their grave on the anniversary of their death, because I have no freaking clue where it is!"

_Damn! I should superglue my mouth together or something,_ Harry thought. He had no idea why he told Cedric that. Was it because he'd had so little social interaction over the past week, outside of Hermione and his teachers? _Probably._

Cedric was looking at him open mouthed. "Uh...sorry. Ignore me," Harry said, standing up. He was going to leave, but then Cedric grabbed his arm.

"I...I never thought of it that way...I didn't even think that...damn, you probably think I'm an insensitive little prick. I am _so_ sorry, Harry."

Harry was surprised. What Cedric had said wasn't that bad. Everyone called him by that. "Uh...you don't need to apologise for that...I just..."

Cedric waved his hand. "No need to explain. And yes, I _do_ need to apologise. Maybe not so much for right now, but the other night, at the Astronomy Tower – I was going on about house parties and feasts...completely ignoring the fact that you would have hated the party no matter the occasion, because of what happened on that night, thirteen years ago. I am _such_ an idiot."

If Harry had been surprised before, he was now shocked. Cedric knew when his parents had died? _Of course he does, you idiot – every damn person in this place probably knows. It doesn't stop them from having a party, though._

"You're not an idiot," Harry muttered softly, not knowing what else to say. He was speechless. Ron never thought about the anniversary of his parents deaths. Hermione never said anything either, though that wasn't nearly as bad – she never grew up in the wizarding world, so she probably had no idea.

"Of course I am. Man, my mother would skin me alive if he knew."

"Better not tell her then," Harry said. The atmosphere had gotten slightly awkward, as it always did when someone brought up his parent's death.

"You know, I'm surprised the school doesn't do something. It's kind of insensitive." Cedric stood up and leant against the railing. "Maybe we should...I don't know, tell Dumbledore to do something from now on. Maybe a special memorial message or something...isn't that what they do in the muggle world? And for Merlin's sake, he should have someone to take you to their graves! You not even knowing where they are should be some sort of crime!"

"Yeah, maybe...but there's probably no point," he said. "Considering the fact I might die this year and all that."

_Ah! Crap! Not again!_ He thought as Cedric's face got a concerned look. _Why do I keep saying stuff I shouldn't? I am such an idiot!_

"Harry, you are _not_ going to die," Cedric told him firmly. It almost sounded like he cared what happened. "I'm sure the teachers won't let that happen, and neither will I."

"You? What do you care? You're supposed to hate me." At Cedric's confused face, Harry offered a small half smile. "Oh come on, you know why – I _am_ stealing your right to be the only Champion and all the glory that goes along with it."

Cedric shook his head and sat down next to Harry. "Nah, I think the two Hogwarts champions should work together," he said. "And as for why I care...well, someone has to, don't they? I don't know if you've noticed, Harry, but you kind of need it. You know, seeing as you believe that your death is coming soon. _Someone_ has to care enough in the hope that you'll change your mind about it."

Harry looked down. Did Cedric really care? Or was it some weird, sick joke?

"Besides...this whole situation is wrong. You're too young to be in the Tournament, so you'll need some help. I'm willing to provide you with that help. I know your friend Hermione is good and all, but I know spells you two wouldn't have even heard of, let alone read about," Cedric said with a grin. "Maybe the three of us can figure out who put your name in that goblet."

It took a few seconds for his words to register. "Wait...you believe I didn't do it?"

Cedric nodded. "I do. I didn't that night, but when I heard you say that you would probably die...that's not exactly the point of view someone has after putting in their own name. You were set up, that much is clear. I still don't think someone's going to kill you, though. Nah, I bet its some weird, sick joke. Maybe it was someone with an infatuation with you. I bet some sicko out there wants to see you in action, save the day...all that. Some sociopath or something," Cedric said. Harry stared at him. "What? Don't look at me like that; I watch a lot of muggle crime drama on the holidays. I pick up a lot of their theories."

Harry laughed. "Right...or maybe you're the one with the infatuation..."

"Dream on, Potter, dream on," Cedric said, ruffling Harry's extremely messy black hair. "Well, I'm as hungry as a Hippogriff. Want to come with me to the Great Hall? Show everyone how two houses in Hogwarts should be getting on?" He asked. Harry nodded.

"That sounds good," Harry told him. "I'll just put my broom down in the locker rooms."

"Yeah, I should probably put mine away as well," Cedric looked down at his. "Hey...how about a race to the ground? Just so long as you don't pull any of those fancy jumping moves you were practicing earlier."

"You're concentrating much better today," Hermione commented when Harry casted the slow motion spell right for the third time in a row. He took that to be a very good sign.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"That break yesterday must have done you some good," she said, smiling, as if she knew something that no one else did.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it did," he replied. He enjoyed spending time with Cedric. He was nice, and Harry could imagine looking up to the guy like a brother. "Hey, uh, do you mind if Cedric comes along tomorrow afternoon? We were talking yesterday afternoon...he said he'd show us some stuff."

Hermione looked at him, confused. Harry sighed. "Yeah, I know, we're supposed to be working against each other, but he says we should work together because we can both win it for Hogwarts. So, do you mind?"

Hermione, of course, nodded shook her head. "Of course I don't mind! What an excellent opportunity! And Hogwarts will look mature if our two champions work together and help each other out," she said, still smiling. She, like just about the rest of the school, had witnessed Harry and Cedric enter the Great Hall and eat dinner together the night before. It was met with mixed reactions.

While they weren't exactly...supportive, they at least stopped giving him the murderous glares that he had been receiving since his name came out of the goblet. Ravenclaw did the same; a few even coming up to him and asking how he was. The Gryffindors looked at Harry like he was mental for talking to Cedric, but most of them seemed to accept the fact that the two Hogwarts champions weren't going to be at each other's throats the whole competition.

_Most_ of them.

Harry couldn't pretend that he didn't feel Ron's murderous gaze on his back, though, but he decided to just not worry about anything to do with his former friend's jealousness. He also decided not to worry about the Tournament _too_ much. While hanging out with Hermione and joking with Cedric, he felt one thing he hadn't felt since his name came out of the goblet.

Hope.


End file.
